King Lear undergoes a profound change during the play. When the play begins, he has been in power so long that has lost track of the fact that it is his power that most people love about him, not himself. He has been catered to, privileged, and obeyed for so long that he can't imagine life any other way. He mistakes words for deeds.

Therefore, when his two older daughters offer him the flattery he wants to hear, he divides his kingdom between them, disinheriting the daughter who refuses to do so.

As his Fool has warned him, and as he finds out, Lear has been deeply unwise. He undergoes an enormous shock as he realizes, too late, that his older daughters cared more about his power than himself. He is amazed and enraged at how quickly they shove him aside as a nuisance.

When they throw him out on a cold heath in a storm, Lear undergoes a transformation. He understands fully for the first time what it is to be cold, poor, and powerless, at the mercy of the elements and the whims of other people. He learns compassion through his own suffering and says he wishes he had done more for the poor when he had the chance. As the play unfolds he learns to value those, like Cordelia, who show with their actions that they truly care about him. He dies a humbler and wiser man.